BERLIN- Worcester Prep’s boys’ varsity lacrosse team’s see-saw start to the season continued this week with an 11-4 loss to Bennett on the road on Tuesday followed by a 14-6 rout of Parkside at home on Wednesday.
The Mallards have had a Jekyll and Hyde start to the season thus far with a 2-2 record after four games. The Worcester boys looked sharp in 17-2 rout of Delmarva Christian in the season opener last week, followed by an 8-6 loss to Bayside North power Cambridge-South Dorchester last Friday.
On Monday, the early season sag continued with an 11-4 loss to Bennett on the road, but the Mallards put it all together on Wednesday with a convincing 14-6 win over Parkside at home. Worcester got out to a 7-4 lead at the half against the Rams on Wednesday, led by three first half goals by Tucker Brown, two by Sam Cantello and one each by Patrick Petrera and Reid Carey.
However, the Mallards really got revved up in the decisive third quarter to put an end to any thoughts of a comeback by the Rams. Just over a minute into the third quarter, Cantello scored on a nice move from behind to extend the lead to 8-4. About a minute later, Brown fed Cantello with a great assist on the crease and Cantello converted to make it 9-4.
With eight minutes remaining in the third, Brendan Miller made a move from the left wing and reached the front of the Parkside goal before faking a pass and firing home a goal to make it 10-4. Less than a minute later, Brown fired a laser from the top of the box to extend Worcester’s lead to 11-4 with 7:40 remaining in the third.
Parkside finally stopped the run with a goal with 4:25 remaining in the third to cut the lead to 11-5, but the damage had been done. With 2:45 remaining in the third, Brown scored again on a wrap-around goal from behind the crease to extend the lead to 12-5. Thomas Fager scored with just 29 seconds remaining in the third to extend the lead to 13-5 with one quarter remaining.
Brown scored again with 5:42 left in the game to close out Worcester’s scoring with a 14-5 lead. Parkside scored an extra man goal with 4:18 left in the game to cut the lead to 14-6 but Worcester wound down the rest of the clock and pulled away for the win. Brown led Worcester with six goals, while Cantello scored four. The Mallards also got single goals from Petrera, Carey, Miller and Fager.
It remains to be seen what Worcester team will emerge from a topsy-turvy four-game start to the season. In two wins, the Mallards have outscored their opponents by a combined 31-8 and have average over 15 goals per game. In their two losses, they have been outscored 19-10. It won’t get any easier for Worcester going forward. The Mallards face always-tough Cape Henlopen on the road on Friday followed by two straight against Gunston at home next week and one the road on April 11.
